Attack on Titan: No Shifters AU
by thehappiestgolucky
Summary: An AU where Titan Shifters don't exist, and instead the two are seperate entities. This story isn't going to strictly follow the manga or anime, and starts with the Female Titan Arc. Certain characters backstories will be adjusted, and the story will not be anywhere near the story of the manga and anime.
1. 1

Though all was silent in the male dorm of the Survey Corps, one boy couldn't seem to get to sleep. Strangely enough, nothing had happened that previous day to trigger this, and he simply turned to his side to look at his companions. The multiple empty beds that littered the dorm sent shivers down his spine, many good friends dead at the hands of the titans. His eyes slowly settled on his sleeping comrades, all in many different positions.

His eyes first set on Connie Springer, a rather small shaven headed male with light golden eyes. He was one that no matter what had happened to him during the day, he stayed in the same sleeping position – arms and legs spread out like an eagle and drool slowly coming out of his mouth. He also snored the loudest out of everyone, mouth wide open as he slept peacefully – seemingly ignoring everything that happened outside his dream. He couldn't help but grin at the sight; the small male seemed to take up the entire bed even when his feet never reached the end of the bed.

The still awake boy scanned to another male, one whose position was vastly different. Jean Kirstein – a boy who had a strange hair style, light brown hair on top of dark brown hair, which covered the back of his head and the side of his head, and had light brown eyes. The two shared many petty arguments against each other. It was safe to say they didn't get along at all. But despite not getting along he had a slight twinge of sympathy for him. Jean was another one who used to sleep like Connie, but since he was taller his limbs dangled slightly over the edge. However following the death of his best friend, Marco Bodt, he had started sleeping on his side curling into himself – the arm that he was sleeping on underneath his pillow and clinging to it, though loosely. He always seemed to have a small frown while sleeping. Though like Connie, you couldn't tell what had happened to him during the day, good or bad.

Now his eyes settled to a bed that contained two people, one too tall for the bed and the other too bulky for it to be shared. The two sharing it were Bertholdt and Reiner Braun, two brothers that looked vastly different from one another. Bertholdt was much taller than the average male and had the lanky limbs to match, with a mop of brown hair that was near black and had large olive eyes. He was one that was easy to read, though he usually slept in a curled up position the severity of the curl would differ depending on how what had happened to him during the day, and what he was feeling before he went to bed. If he was in a relatively good mood he only curled up slightly, however if he was in a particularly upset or bad mood he curled tightly into himself – clinging to the sheets or pillows. He was also the one to be known for having nightmares, though only once had he woken up screaming. Reiner on the other hand was a blonde and muscular boy, though shorter than Bertholdt he made up for not being lanky or skinny. His hair was much shorter and his amber eyes matched. He slept in relatively the same position, only his face betrayed his emotions, and would always have a supporting arm around his brother. Though this comfort would also differ, if he knew Bertholdt had a bad day he'd wrap his arm further around his brother, and if it was the opposite case he'd keep at least a hand on his shoulder. No one really knew why, but Bertholdt couldn't get to sleep at all without someone he trusted sleeping right next to him. The wide awake boy presumed it had something to do with Bertholdt's past, considering that Reiner openly admitted he was adopted.

The last one was his best friend, Armin Arlet, a small and rather mediocre boy with somewhat long blonde hair and blue eyes. He wasn't a strong fighter, but he was incredibly intelligent. He had varying positions in sleep, and would move around when trying to get to sleep. Normally this shuffling wouldn't be too bad unless he started making too much noise, and either he or Jean would toss a pillow at him to 'Shut up and go to sleep!' He had a variety of facial expressions, and if he managed to be asleep when everyone else was awake the others would try and guess what he was dreaming about based on what he looked like at the time.

The boy, still awake and not growing close to being tired, rested into his pillow and looked at the ceiling and stayed there silently with a blank expression. He was bored, and desperately wished that he could get some amount of sleep. It wasn't until he noticed the sun rays coming through the dorm window that he groaned aloud, never to get a blink of sleep. He sat up and decided it would be best if he just woke up and got ready, getting out of his bed and changing into his uniform. In the middle of getting his trousers on, he heard someone shuffling and getting up, glancing to the tall boy that was now sitting at the edge of his bed and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Morning Bertl." He simply greeted, fastening his belts now, as Bertholdt looked up to him. "Oh morning Eren! Why are you awake so early?" he replied, gathering his clothes and ready to head towards a different room to get dressed. Eren shrugged, before answering "I didn't really get much sleep last night, so I just thought it'd be better to just get ready." Bertholdt nodded his head, before he went to the different room and closed the door. Eren looked back at the tall boy's bed to still see Reiner sleeping peacefully. He glanced around before getting his boots on and his shirt. He didn't notice Armin get up and sit beside him to get dressed, earning a jump from Eren as his weight moved the bed. "Morning to you too!" Armin started happily, a smile on his face whilst he started getting changed, "You're never really up this early."

"Like I said to Bertl, I didn't sleep last night."

"I know, I was up then." Eren had finished getting changed, stretching and contemplating getting the rest up to avoid being yelled at by Levi, who was overseeing them by command of Erwin Smith. Levi was stern and considered amongst the soldiers as a clean freak. He hardly yelled, but his cold tone was enough to scare anyone even if they looked more intimidating than him. Thinking about this was enough to convince him to wake up his three still asleep friends, with Armin recognising what he was doing and waking up Jean, as Eren woke up Reiner and Connie. As Connie sat in his bed, yawning widely and Reiner standing up and stretching, Jean was already getting changed. "Man why are we up so early?" Connie yawned again, clumsily trying to get changed into his uniform and failing. He looked rather confused when he tried to get his head through his shirt's sleeve, before realising what was happening and tried again. "I don't feel like listening to Captain Levi lecturing us about waking up and cleaning up." Eren replied simply, already fixing his bed. Reiner gave a loud chuckle, waking up every other recruit, as he too started getting changed.

"I wouldn't be laughing. He'll probably find something else to moan about, he always does." Jean groaned, now stretching and getting ready to make his bed as well. It was one of the things Eren could agree on, something was always off to Levi. Whether it was something out of place, or a uniform not put on properly or even one soldier still dozing off. Eventually the tallest soldier emerged from the different room, fully changed and carrying his sleeping clothes and started to make his shared bed, before neatly folding up his clothes and placing them in the drawer next to his bed. The dorm became silent as everyone worked to avoid Captain Levi from standing at the doorway and rigorously commanding them to clean the dorm. After everything was neat the soldiers left the dorms towards the eating hall, meeting up with the female recruits. Eren was immediately greeted by his adopted sister Mikasa, who was followed by four other girls.

The smallest of them all was Christa, a blonde haired and blue eyed sweetheart whose kindness was near unrivalled. She was the one to break up fights and comfort others and the Survey Corps members greatly appreciated her, even if she wasn't the best fighter. The taller freckled one behind her was Ymir, brown hair tied back in a ponytail and with golden eyes, and with a very slender figure. She always stuck near Christa and was rather rude, getting into fights often and being at odds with Reiner – it was painfully clear that Reiner had a thing for Christa and not so clear, but could be concluded by her defensiveness, that Ymir also had a thing for her. Next to her was another girl with reddish hair, Sasha Blouse, already eating what looked like a potato. She was known for eating a lot more than anyone else, and would be yelled at by any senior who could be bothered to get her into trouble. She was a nice person, very close to Connie and smiled often. The final girl was Annie Braun, however it was known she used to be Annie Leonheart before her parents were eaten alive by titans during the fall of Wall Maria, and that she was adopted by Reiner's parents as the older sister. She was a near expressionless person, though there were very few cases where she did show emotion – only towards Reiner and Bertholdt though. Sasha had once said that she spotted Annie smiling whilst sitting next to her two brothers; though it was a small smile and could easily had been a frown.

The large group settled at a table and ate what rations were available, small talk being shared with the more talkative ones of the group. Suddenly a hand was slammed on the table, causing all but Annie and Mikasa to jump, with Connie and Bertholdt yelping. All looked up to see a forever frowning Levi with Petra and Oluo behind him, Oluo looked slightly bored whilst Petra wore an apologetic expression. "So this is the group that Erwin requested?" Oluo asked, eyes looking around slightly to look for something to lean on and not paying attention to the group that were sitting at the table. Petra elbowed him slightly, frowning and scrunching up her eyebrows, but it appeared that Levi also felt the same way that Oluo did. "Well they were picked for a particular reason!" Petra insisted, moving forward to stand next to Levi and offered a friendly smile, "So why don't we see what they can do, surely we can find a reason why he chose them by testing them?" her expression turned to worry, Eren supposed that she suddenly had second thoughts of this idea. However it seemed that Oluo agreed to this, a smug grin placed on his face. "I don't see anything wrong with that idea." He agreed, looking down at Levi, "Want us to get a part of the training ground ready?" Levi stood still, looking at each of the soldiers. Looking was an understatement, he was staring at each of them and only a few could return the stare with as much cold heartedness as Levi gave. Eren was not one of them. He finally nodded, before walking away with Petra and Oluo by his side.

"So what are we doing now?" it was a simple, yet very relevant to their situation question that Connie asked, slightly stunned and taken aback by what just happened.

"I suppose we go to the training ground and wait?" Jean replied, leaning his head on one hand but not with a relaxed expression. What did Commander Erwin want with them? Eren couldn't really argue with the idea, and after the last person had finished eating everyone got up and collectively went outside towards the training ground. There was a small group of seniors gathered around a larger space, with Commander Erwin Smith being very prominent. He glanced over to the young soldiers and waved them over, each exchanging glances as each other as they approached. "In a line soldiers!" Levi ordered, arms behind his back and eyes icily staring into their souls. All hastily rushed in line, standing to attention as Erwin stood back to observe them all.

"You all are of course curious as to why I asked for your specific group. Well it has been reported that a new, intelligent titan has been spotted near the wall by the forest," Eren stiffened slightly. How much he _hated_ the titans, and a new titan was not something that they needed right now. Especially if it was an intelligent titan, "We don't know what we're dealing with, and with any intelligent titan so far, it isn't a stretch to say that another may be lurking nearby to accompany it." This only increased Eren's loathing. More than one intelligent titan spotted nearby. Either this was the Armoured Titan accompanying it, or another intelligent titan. That would make four in total. Two was already too much. "Petra has proposed that you fight to see if you are actually good enough to send out and return relatively alive." The last one caused many in the line to flinch. Especially the more cowardly soldiers, who looked at everyone else in the line to see who else was just as scared as they were, "I trust that the three of you can manage this large group as you have been." And with a nod to Captain Levi and his two squad members, he walked away.

"Alright, you'll be pitted against someone that we normally wouldn't pair you up with. This is to allow you to go against something new and adapt to fight back." Levi explained and stayed still as Petra and Oluo stepped forward. Petra looked at the person to the far right of the line, Connie, and called "Connie Springer is up against Reiner Braun!" Connie's expression turned from surprise to complete horror, and looked down the line to find Reiner. Reiner didn't look to pleased either, obviously not wanting to hurt the much weaker male. Oluo coughed for their attention, "Reiner and Connie, please collect these knives and stand against each other on either end!" whilst holding out a small wooden knife in each hand. There was a moment's hesitation, even if they said they were pairing others with ones outside their abilities, Connie against Reiner was too much of a disadvantage. Even Eren, who normally understood the extremes that they needed to go to keep humanity safe, thought it was too unfair. "Hurry up!" Levi commanded, stern voice enough to scare the two into stepping out of the line and collecting the knives, and as they stood against each other a considerable distance away he continued, "If the opponent is taken down quickly the winner will be immediately paired up against someone. If the fight goes on for awhile both will be replaced by a new pair after a winner emerges!" his eyes shrunk considerably, "However we will not tolerate anyone deliberately losing. Anyone who loses on purpose will have to face one of us. The same also goes for going easy on your opponent." Eren saw as Connie's expression filled with even more horror and dread, whilst Reiner grimaced a bit. That was precisely their plan. Oluo and Petra stepped back as Levi held up his arm, before swiftly bringing it down and yelling "Begin!"

Connie immediately froze in place as Reiner charged at him, sheer terror running through his body. Multiple people began to yell at Connie to dodge out the way, but the fear that clearly came across from his eyes showed that he couldn't bring himself to move. Before Reiner was upon him he managed to shake his head and bring himself back to his senses as he ducked under Reiner's arms whilst he attempted to tackle him, and moved out of the way with one of his legs extended and tripping the larger male over. Reiner landed on his front, supporting himself with his hands before quickly turning around to catch Connie's arm as he attempted to take advantage of the situation, and was thrown over his shoulder to land on the ground yelping in pain. "Oh I forgot to mention, the opponent must be pinned to the ground for ten seconds for someone to win with the wooden knife to the throat." Levi deadpanned, as Reiner had began to stand up thinking he'd won. After hearing this, Connie immediately stood up again, though swayed slightly from dizziness. By this time the watchers forgot about the reason why they were fighting and were enveloped in seeing what was going to happen. Connie and Reiner stood against each other again, though Connie was panting slightly, before charging at Reiner. The blonde stood momentarily, confused as to why the smaller male decided to charge at him, before realising what was happening and was pushed over by Connie. They struggled on the ground, fighting to try and pin the other down before Reiner's strength overpowered Connie's surprise attack. He had let go of Connie's weapon arm to swiftly shoulder barge it, knocking the bald boy breathless as his grip on the weapon loosened and was then swiftly grabbed and thrown to his side, landing harshly on his back as Reiner swiftly got up and pinned Connie on the ground, knife to the throat and keeping the smaller boy from moving at all. Petra started the countdown, and when the ten second mark was met Reiner immediately released Connie and offered his hand to let him up. Connie graciously accepted it and stood up, though considerably shaken. Petra instructed the two to go back into the line and catch their breath, before going back and talking with Levi and Oluo.

Connie stood back in his place next to Eren and was panting heavily now. He was sweating and rubbed his neck with a little wince. "Hey that was a good attempt there!" Eren spoke up, smiling with encouragement to the smaller boy, who looked back with a sheepish grin.

"Th-thanks. I didn't think that charging him would work but eh." He managed to blurt out, rather pleased that he managed to catch Reiner at least off guard.

"Yeah I don't think I would've done that. I would've waited for him to charge instead. He probably wouldn't have done the same thing though." Eren shrugged back, patting his friend on the back before he earned an 'Ow!' and stopped.

The senior members stopped discussing, obviously talking about the fight that just happened before Oluo fetched the knives and Petra stepped forward again. She stood up straight, calling out:

"Eren Yeager is against Bertholdt Braun!"


	2. 2

Bertholdt glanced uncertainly at the seniors, before hearing a low, emotionless whisper from his adoptive sister Annie, "Remember this is just training." Before he began to walk and collect his weapon. She was right, this was just training. Eren didn't want to hurt him. He knew this. _This was only training_. He repeated this phrase in his head as he gently grabbed the knife from Oluo's right hand and stepped to where Connie had stood, facing against Eren as he took his side. Eren's eyebrows knitted into a scowl, though his eyes remained calm. _Its fine, we're just training. He doesn't really want to hurt me_ , Bertholdt calmed his nerves by reminding himself of what was happening. Soon his nervous sweating had died down as Captain Levi raised his arm, throwing it down as he called out to go, but the action had already started before he started to utter the words. Eren sprinted towards Bertholdt and attempted to knock his legs to throw the giant on the ground, but Bertholdt jumped to the side just before Eren reached him. The shorter boy swiftly turned around and leapt at Bertholdt, throwing a punch at his jaw only to miss as he raised his head slightly. Seeing this, Eren brought his left arm and elbowed him in the stomach, knocking the breath out of the taller boy, before hooking his leg behind Bertholdt's knees and flipping him to the ground. Bertholdt's back and head began to ache as he hit the ground, as he raised his hands to stop Eren, who was on him in an instant and pinning the taller boy's weapon arm to the ground. Before he could get his own knife to his throat, Bertholdt caught his arm and the two struggled to free their own respective weapon arms from the others grip. Bertholdt's arm was completely pinned down, not being able to struggle against Eren's entire weight, whilst he struggled to keep Eren's arm away from him – the two arms shaking in the air as Eren's might was slowly beating Bertholdt's arm length advantage. Bertholdt kept a grimace on his face, not to betray the fact that he was moving his legs to be underneath Eren's stomach, as the boy forgot to pin all of his limbs down. Firmly placing his feet on the smaller boys stomach, with Eren's features moving from determined to surprised, Bertholdt leaned his weight on his shoulders and launched Eren off of him. The boy landed harshly on the ground, dust billowing up from the impact, before he swiftly got back up again. That was the one thing that made Eren a strong fighter, his never ending determination to finish what he started. It terrified Bertholdt.

This time instead of going straight for the pin, Eren circled around Bertholdt as the other followed him, both eyeing each other up for some sign of weakness. Eren then jumped and swung his knife at Bertholdt as the tall boy clumsily dodged it, bringing his own knee to connect with the others chest. Eren gasped, the impact knocking his lungs around before he wrapped his arms around the leg and swung the tall boy over to land on his side, as Eren lost his balance and fell on his back too. Both struggled slightly to get up again, before meeting once again to beat the other one enough to successfully pin them. Eren ducked under a punch and brought his elbow down hard on Bertholdt's back, earning a cry as he fell on his knees – trying to take advantage Eren went to knock him over with a kick, but was caught and flipped heads over heals as the taller boy used his momentum and strength whilst getting back up to throw the leg. Landing on his front, mostly his face, Eren was left on the ground gasping as he tried to catch his breath, but felt a heavy weight on top of him as he struggled to get back up. Bertholdt brought his knife to Eren's throat, kneeling on top of him to stop him from moving. Eren's weapon arm was caught underneath his own body and as Petra started the count he vigorously shuffled to move his weapon arm from under him. Bertholdt noticed this, but was already struggling to hold the stronger boy down, and desperately trying to stop Eren from getting his arm free, but also trying to stop his other arm from being used to attack him instead. At the seven second mark, Eren freed his arm and swung it around to knock Bertholdt's head with the hilt, the impact enough to force the taller boy to move off of Eren, clutching his head. Eren jumped up and launched himself at Bertholdt before he had time to recover and knocked him over again, this time making sure to pin Bertholdt's legs down to avoid being thrown off again. He moved to pin the taller males arm to the ground, but was interrupted when Bertholdt immediately moved to hit the side of Eren's head with the hilt of his knife, stunning him for a short amount of time before his arms were grabbed and he was rolled over and landing on the ground with force. Now blood was starting to drip down from the place where he was hit in the head, Bertholdt was stunned and dazed, his vision going slightly blurry before he felt a weight cling to his back and pin him to the ground, knife to throat. Something about the pin sent waves of chills down his spine and break out in mountains of nervous sweat. It was too familiar. His vision began to go even blurrier as his hearing started to go dull. His breathing began to pick up, and the world started spinning before suddenly he was released, landing softly on the floor gasping for breath. Bertholdt slowly lifted his head to find a hand extended towards him, and upon instinct he grabbed it and was helped up to his feet. He looked down to his opponent, who was panting as hard as he was, with a large bruise forming on his head. They shook each other's hand and returned to the line, as the next opponents where called and stood to fight one another.

It seemed that they were satisfied when the entire line had fought, all sent away to rest for the entire day to prepare for what they were meant to do the next morning. Many were groaning from pain and others were stretching to get their muscles to work again after being overused. Of course there was some that escape relatively unharmed: Reiner, Annie and Mikasa. The large group decided that sitting underneath a tree would be better than trying to clamber back inside an enclosed space with so many injuries, and tempers were sure to fly. As they sat down the breeze picked up slightly, cooling down the tired and sweating figures as some removed their jackets to cool down quicker. "Man, remind me never to pick a fight with you." Jean spoke up, looking towards Sasha as she began to bite down on a potato she stole. Everyone around turned their attention towards him, now all recovering their breath and the more talkative ones ready to engage in some form of communication. "Pfft yeah, I may eat a lot but I have some killer moves!" Sasha replied, a peppy step in her tone, and most of the group laughed lowly.

"I just hope I'm sticking behind you guys instead of against you. I really don't want to be on the receiving end of one of Reiner's throws!" Armin joked, earning a nervous chuckle from Connie and loud laughter from Reiner.

"Just don't get nearly kicked by the titan and I won't be forced to throw you out of the way!"

"Wouldn't grabbing him be a better option? I don't think you're fast enough to do that with all that muscle!" Jean retorted back, crossing his arms and turning his body towards the blonde, a smug teasing smile spread across his face.

"Oh really now! Want to bet about that Kirstein!" The blonde spat back, with a wide grin and leaning forward onto his crossed legs. An argument started to bloom, with the more enthusiastic members joining into the debate. Bertholdt shook his head slightly, and let his mind wander to what they could be doing tomorrow. Of course it was to do with the new intelligent titan that had been spotted and was most likely to observe its behaviours. Or it would've been if it wasn't for a fact that intelligent titans are never spotted near the walls unless a breach happened, Bertholdt couldn't help but shiver at the memory of the Colossal Titan lifting its foot and completely obliterating the wall. Or of the Armoured Titan rushing through districts, knocking everything and everyone down and out of the way, so that a swam of titans could casually walk in and devour the citizens and soldiers that had the misfortune of meeting the jaws of one. Another cold shiver travelled down his spine, and he sighed quietly to try and force these thoughts out of his mind. It was better not to think about it too much other than the strategy. Another worry filled his mind, would they be sent alone? Surely they would send some older soldiers to lead the large group of youngsters; they were not nearly ready to take on an intelligent titan by themselves, even if they had strong fighters like Mikasa, Annie, Eren and Reiner on their team. Four people couldn't take on an intelligent titan they had never met before, and was certain suicide. Bertholdt felt movement next to him, finding Armin and Christa's small forms coming to sit next to him. Their faces were riddled with worry and concern. "I've just been thinking..." Armin started, before rubbing the back of his neck as his eyebrows furrowed slightly, "Why exactly are they sending us? Aren't we too young to go out and try and do something about an intelligent titan?" Christa nodded in agreement.

"We may have Levi's squad accompany us though." Bertholdt mumbled, head resting against the massive trunk of the tree, and gazing slightly down at his smaller comrades.

"That would make sense. They are overlooking us, maybe that's why we were handed to them specifically." The soft voice of their female friend filled in, resting her head on her delicate hands. The other two nodded, it would make the most sense.

"I still don't understand why we're being sent, we'd be much better taking care of smaller titans that threatened the seniors. Unless of course, we're being sent for that purpose, we're just assuming we're being sent to deal with the intelligent titan." Now that was the truth. They had assumed that they were being made so important as to be sent to defeat an intelligent titan, when even seniors couldn't manage it. Of course they would be sent to deal with any smaller titans that get in the way.

"I guess we're worrying about it too much, maybe we should wait until Commander Erwin tells us the mission details." The boys nodded at Christa's suggestion, settling the unease that had began to spread through them. They all decided to pay attention to the argument that was happening to find Jean being pinned to the floor with playful laughter by Reiner, and the crowd of friends that surrounded them joining in on the playfulness besides the emotionless ones. The trio simply shook their heads and rested against the tree, enjoying the small amount of peace and rest that their superiors allowed them to have.

"Get up soldiers there is no time to lie in!" Came the commanding, though deadpanned, tone of Captain Levi, spreading through the room as everyone who participated in the training session groaned in pain. They struggled to get out of their beds at first, before the male members of Levi's squad, Eld, Gunther and Oluo started to roughly get them up – pulling them up by their arms and letting them fumble on the ground. There seemed to be tension in the air around them, as the group tried to wake themselves up and get dressed without falling over and hurting themselves more. Many times did Connie fail to even put his shirt on properly to the point where it annoyed Levi, who grunted for one of his members to fix it. Some couldn't be woken up so easily, and the most difficult one had to be the giant member who appeared to be draped on the floor with his arms spread, making it incredibly difficult to navigate the spaces in between the bunks without stepping on his arms. He was roughly kicked in the side to wake up. After struggling to get ready they eventually filed out of the dorm, with the other soldiers being ordered to do their normal routine, and the now awake crew was escorted out to a line of horses where the female members of the group stood waiting. "Now that you're all here we can go through the mission brief. Your job is to find the intelligent titan and learn as much as you can: appearance, abilities and strength. I am not telling you to throw away your life, but to try and find some things out about this intelligent titan. But keep on your toes, there may also be another intelligent titan that is accompanying it or it could be the Armoured Titan. If you spot it and they travel together observe from a distance and maintain the distance. Do not engage." The group nodded their heads, all showing brave faces but most trembling in fear. "You will be accompanied by Levi and his squad. Now go." Commander Erwin finished, turning on his heels and walking back to the building as Levi and his squad members prepared the recruits with their horses and once everyone was ready they headed out, galloping down the streets and out of the gate.

The first thing that Bertholdt noticed was that the grass was definitely greener on this side, as the vast amount of field filled his vision. The air had a very different feel to it, though terror resided within him, the air was clean and fresh – completely different from the clustered atmosphere that surrounded the people inside the walls. Even though it was the same air, it somehow didn't seem tainted with a shared horror that the walls contained. It was simply refreshing. The massive squad rode out far from the walls, or what seemed to be far as the walls towered so high that they didn't look to be receding at all. It was a terrifying thought that this intimidating wall meant nothing to a creature that they were going towards, yet meant so much to these small humans. Bertholdt shook the thought from his head. Not now. Eventually they entered the forest and Levi raised his hand to indicate to everyone to slow down, as they did and trotted through the woods. The trees were massive, towering much higher above them than any tree within the walls and made them wonder how something could grow so tall so naturally. The titans weren't natural. That they knew.

The forest held the constant chatter of insects and whistles of other creatures, though low, and made travelling in utter silence impossible. The shrill that the insects produced echoed through the woods, ricocheting off of the wood and filling the cadet's ears causing a wash of unease to settle amongst them. It still would be easy to distinguish a titan's footsteps, but the fact that the woods were still this full of life despite the threat truly showed that titans were only a threat to humans. Animals only had to worry about being in the way. Suddenly there was a rush of flapping, as a flock of birds soared in masses, causing everyone to look above them at the sky to the direction that they came from. Terrifyingly it was right behind them. The next sign was the slowly approaching footsteps that became more rapid as it grew louder. The rhythm sent chills throughout the entire squad's spines, as the same thought ran across their minds as all their heads turned behind them. A noticeably feminine titan, around fourteen metres in height with exposed muscle, her form suggesting that she was physically strong, had emerged from amongst the bushes. She had a noticeably similar look to Annie, with blonde shoulder length hair and piercing blue eyes, and had strange bone like fingers. Bertholdt felt his heart leap from his chest into his mouth, eyes wide in terror and had the urge to scream right there as she came rushing towards the group. Out of instinct they all urged their horses into a fast gallop. The only one that wasn't looking behind them in some sort of surprise or terror was Levi, eyes calm in front of him. "Sir! She's coming right towards us!" Cried Sasha, shrieks piercing the calm rhythm that was the horses and the titan's feet colliding with the ground. There wasn't a response by Captain Levi, causing more heads to turn his way.

"Captain she's gaining on us! What do we do?" Eren practically screeched eyes locked behind him in both terror and adrenaline.

"Captain?"

"Captain Levi what do we do?" The younger members began screaming at him, even Mikasa and Annie joined in, all confused and terrified about what was happening. Why wasn't he responding? Did he even know that they were being chased by a massive titan? Did he decide to go deaf now? The titan was getting closer and closer to the screaming group, eyes locked on the humans as the scent of fear reeked from them. "Levi what are you doing?" now even Levi's squad members were joining in, Eld asking in a shaking voice – even though he tried to calm it – as the short man didn't respond.

"Levi what's wrong? We have to get out of the way or we're all going to die here!" Oluo yelled, trying to be heard over the panicking cadets as they tried to get an answer from the Captain, who remained calm and silent.

"Wait." Was the reply that finally came, making the older soldiers stop questioning. He had a plan. They just weren't there yet. Levi urged his horse to go faster, now racing ahead of everyone else and letting the rest of the squad to tell the younger ones to urge their horses faster. As they did the titan's pace never changed, steadily falling behind before adjusting her stride to match the new acceleration of the horses. Bertholdt spun his head behind him again, breathe quickening and heart threatening to burst out of his chest. His head spun, beginning to pound from the rush of utter adrenaline that coursed through his veins. _He has to have a plan or else we're all dead_ he thought, nervous sweat now beginning to cling onto his hair and clothes and making the situation more uncomfortable. He turned his attention to the front of him, noticing that Levi was beginning to look behind him now at the titan – though with nothing more than the calmest expression. Suddenly he slowed down, letting the rest of the horses rush in front of him and turning his attention to the crowd in front of him. "Turn right now!" he screamed at them, turning his horse completely around to face the titan approaching them and launching off his horse with his manoeuvring gear. The rest of his squad headed his orders, positioning themselves around the group as they forced them to turn right, rushing through thicket and trees. The forest suddenly became incredibly dense, making it harder to manoeuvre around with the large group of horses, and they soon had split off and rushed in the same direction in a line. Bertholdt's mind started racing, his head now a buzz full of pain and questions before his entire body was flung forward with a yell, along with some of his other comrades.


	3. 3

Cursing under his breath, Jean whipped his horse around and made his way towards the group that were tripped by massive exposed roots. A few others helped whilst the rest stood around, observing the environment and watching for any threats. He jumped off his horse and walked towards Armin, who was on his hands and knees slightly dazed, quickly pulling him up by his shoulder and back onto his horse. The haste in which he did it made it harder to get the smaller boy on fully without nearly falling over again, the entire time Jean focussed too much on holding his breath and listening out for any titans that would ambush the group. As soon as Armin had a good grip and was on fully Jean rushed back onto his own horse and followed everyone else's stares at the seniors. They simply nodded and proceeded to go through the giant roots with a trot, forcing the younger members to follow in haste out of fear and dread. In the distance they heard a roar followed by what was presumed to be tearing flesh, Jean strained his ears to listen for any others sounds, anything else that could indicate that Levi was not dying – but all that could be heard after were the soft sporadic chatter of insects that were clearly spooked by the sudden roar. Trembles flowed down his spine as multiple possibilities started forming and disappearing in his head before he forcefully shook his head and concentrated on the situation in front of him. They were at a disadvantage if they kept tripping over roots and injuring themselves by not paying attention, but with the titan that had just followed them it was hard not to imagine all the horrid possibilities that followed being on the receiving end of whatever attacks it dealt. The seniors were heading towards some sort of larger area, a sort of clearing, to try and think of a new plan and spot danger slightly before it reaches the younger members. Another roar ripped through the foliage behind them, but it echoed more and sounded quieter, they were heading away from the fight that was most likely ensuing between the titan and Levi – but for some reason that sent far more chills down his spine than it should have. Being away from Humanity's Strongest, and the foreboding factor that he could be killed, wasn't a comfort and Jean would much rather close to him during this mission than what was happening right now.

The mass amount of trees started to slowly dissipate and it was clear they were finally coming near to a clearing. As the sunlight started filing through the lesser amount of leaves, their environment was finally easier to survey and the seniors started slowing down to be slightly in front of the large group. "The hell was that thing back there?" Reiner was the first to speak up, voice mixing in with terror and anger, struggling to stay quiet. Petra shook her head, as if to be an adequate answer despite knowing that it wasn't what Reiner was looking for.

"If we knew we wouldn't be out here now would we!" Eren snapped back, eyebrows furrowing and eyes darting around him, ready for a titan to burst from the line of trees around them. Reiner sent a glare back in his direction, their eyes meeting and daring the other to make the first move.

"We don't need you fighting amongst yourselves in this moment!" the heads of the young members snapped up to Eld, who was still looking ahead of him, voice stern. The seniors appeared to be chatting amongst themselves, discussing what best direction to next take, whilst the rest all thought one similar thought: _I want to go back home_. This was what they signed up for when they joined, but it also wasn't. They expected to fight smaller titans like they had during the battle of Trost, but instead here they were head over heels in fear of this giant intelligent titan that they had no information on. A loud burst brought their attention to their right hand side, before hearing a low mumbling, though it might've been moaning in delight, as the wide eyes of a titan was met as it stared at the humans. This was not what they needed in this precise moment, but fate would have there to be far more than one. There was no running from this; they were surrounded by titans with escape blocked with the giant roots around them. Immediately the seniors jumped into action, leaping off of their horses and flinging themselves in different directions towards the titans, first pair of blades withdrawn and impressively avoiding the flailing arms of the titans and already slashing their napes. The rest followed suit.

Jean stood from his horse, aiming his gear at the forehead of a titan with bulging eyes, propelling himself forward and landing on the forehead, his momentum being enough to force the titan's head back to prevent it from acting for the few precious moments that Jean needed to jump down and slash at its nape. Swiftly moving onto the next titan that readily approached him, eager for a meal; he swung around it as it uselessly flailed its arms around trying to catch him, the nape easily sliced. The next titan would prove to be more difficult, standing at ten metres tall and having functional arms. Each swipe at his wire forced him to readjust and position each grapple to get closer to its nape. A sharp force pulled him down midflight, unable to register that he needed to fire out his wire again and landed in the hands of a different titan, still ten metres though. Jean struggled, but unfortunately his arms were clasped to his side in the vice like grip and the breath was being crushed out of him. "Help!" was all he managed to call before a choking sound erupted from his throat, his very life being slowly squeezed out of him. His eyes were forced shut by the sheer amount of pain that ricocheted all through his body. As suddenly as the painful pressure had been applied, it was removed in a swift movement of blood and steam, before he felt himself be caught and brought to a higher level. His swiftly opened his eyes and clung to the level that he was brought to and harshly regained his breath. He glanced down, somewhat surprised as the group had managed to slay the last one. In total there were around thirteen titans that had attacked them.

"You ok?" Jean twisted his head to face the friendly, yet concerned expression of Reiner. Jean nodded, still regaining the breath that was denied from him.

"Hurry back to your horses! We're leaving this forest!" Eld called to the squad, already on his horse. The rest of Levi's squad had followed suit, as the younger members scrambled back onto their horses.

"Wait what about Levi?" Armin questioned his voice shrill with adrenaline and fear. Levi hadn't returned yet. It sent alarm bells ringing in Jean's head, how truly strong was the titan that chased them? "He'll catch up." Petra answered, but her confident facade was easy to see through as her voice shook and her eyes betrayed her emotions. Humanity's Strongest couldn't have fallen. Surely not?

"We're leaving, let's go!" Eld commanded, jolting his horse to a gallop and rushing through thickets and giant roots, with the rest trying to match his speed and not fall over again.

It was near impossible to see through, as multiple branches were repeatedly hitting Jean's face and forcing him to squint his eyes to avoid them being damaged. Eld seemed confident in where they were going, almost as though he knew this part of the forest. That wasn't a bad thing, it was much better than the large group wandering aimlessly in titan territory. Soon the large trees started to get thinner and fewer until a familiar, imposing but also comforting, wall finally came into view – causing multiple recruits to breathe in relief. Something was off, Jean could feel it. The trampling of the hooves was being accompanied by an unsteady, larger, beat. And it was approaching. Jean glanced back when no one else dared, and dearly wished that he didn't. Behind them, not approaching as fast as the previous titan, but still chasing after them was easily fifteen metres in height, with a lean muscular build. The longer black hair that draped over its dangerously glowing olive eyes and rows of exposed teeth only cemented that this was another intelligent titan, and one that clearly was ready to smash them to the ground like mush. "There's another titan after us!" Jean screamed, eyes not tearing from this new titan as others looked back.

"Oh great! What do we do now? It's coming straight towards us!" Connie joined in, eyes widening, "This one also looks a lot meaner! I don't feel like being eaten alive!"

"It's slower than the other titan; we should be able to reach the wall before it at this pace!" Eld responded, altering his eyes between the new titan and the wall. As though it heard him and took insult the titan roared, a shriek piercing the sky and successful in sending chills down the humans spines, and increased its pace. It was now easily out running the last titan.

Fear now engulfed the group, screams of sheer terror rushing through the easier to scare members. Even Petra had joined in. It was only a matter of minutes before the titan would reach the group and trample them easily, no matter which direction they went. The fast rhythm that the titan somehow managed to produce matched Jean's heart rate, increasing with every step closer it took. _Why of all times couldn't that dwarf be here?_ Of all the times for Levi to be missing, it had to be when the entire group's very lives were in danger. Jean would've groaned if it wasn't for the fact that there was a much larger issue heading right towards them. Then suddenly the titan, emotionless as ever, began to topple over, blood and steam bursting from behind both knees and ankles. Almost as though a miracle, a horse emerged from the behind the titan, with the rider hopping down onto the saddle with ease and ushering the creature onwards. As soon as Levi's distinct features came into view, his voice rattled through the tense and horrified atmosphere "Don't stop! Keep going!"

They didn't need him to tell them twice about this, as the wall began to engulf Jean's entire view. He forced his eyes forward as there was no footsteps approaching them, none that he heard, but to also calm his nerves. He may get out of this alive. He dared himself to at least glace back, to find the titan to be standing there next to the feminine titan, regenerating almost all the wounds that Levi must've given it. Their forms began retreating into the distance until the two standing titans were nothing more than a speck and the walls were getting closer to touching distance. Upon seeing them the gate was immediately opened and the horses rushed through. Finally within the fragile safety that the walls provided, Jean could exhale and begin to breath normally again. As they made their way towards the Survey Corps buildings, he kept his eyes fixed to his horse, not looking around at the people watching them enter. He could tell, even without looking at his teammates, that some were never going to get sleep tonight. Finally arriving at the buildings, Levi's squad dismissed them immediately and told them to get some form of rest. The members all jumped off their horses and lead them to the stables. A silence formed around them, before one person sighed heavily. "So there are four intelligent titans out there." Surprisingly it was Mikasa who said that. Though having to deal with four intelligent titans, and the new two most likely as destructive as the Colossal and Armoured Titans, was too much to comprehend. Did humans even stand a chance now?

"What the hell are we going to do!" of course Ymir was the one to snap in anger rather than despair. She huffily brushed her horse as they reached the stables and settled their horses down.

"Try not to die?" Connie tried joking, but fell flat as he received multiple glares. "Maybe they're more focussed on speed? It seemed like it when they chased us?" this time people didn't glare at him.

"They seem to have the form for it." Bertholdt, usually quiet during these conversations, hummed in agreement. Jean stayed silent, brushing the horse's mane to calm his nerves more than keep the horse tidy. The exhausted animal didn't seem to mind though, grateful for some sort of rest.

"The Armoured Titan can go just as fast though." Jean commented, not looking at his members as they looked at him, he simply carried on, "The only one that seems to actually have an imbalance is the Colossal Titan. The Armoured Titan is probably heavier than those two titans but he can run just as fast as them. And we all know what damage he did." There was multiple groans, hums and 'I guess' agreeing with him. Even Armin hadn't argued against him.

"Damn you're probably right too. That kinda raises a question though." All faced Reiner as he stopped, folding his arms and his brows knotting together, "If there's so many of them why haven't they just laid waste to us? They have the numbers and strength to do it, why only destroy one wall?"

"Yeah that doesn't make sense!" Sasha chipped in, "Are they playing with us? That doesn't seem like something titans would do, they're too eager to eat us!" slowly the members nodded. It didn't make sense, now that more intelligent titans were discovered. It was speculated that they didn't have a taste in human flesh as the Armoured Titan and Colossal Titan didn't eat a single human, as soon as the wall was kicked down the Colossal Titan left and after the Armoured Titan did its job it left too. It was too co-ordinated to make sense, even for intelligent titans. Wouldn't they want to destroy the entire civilisation? What were their motives?

They trudged silently back to their dorms, eager to just get some sleep since most of them knew they'd never get any sleep when the rest joined them. The boys and girls separated, and as soon as they were inside their dorms they rushed to get changed. Bertholdt of course hurried to the separate room, as everyone else slowly changed. As soon as he rested and stopped moving Jean's body immediately reminded him of the fact it was nearly squished to death and began to ache. As he removed his jacket and shirt, he noticed bruises already forming around his body, earning a whistle from Reiner – trying to lighten the mood – and sympathetic looks from others. "Man this is going to be a pain tomorrow." Jean groaned, earning chuckles from others. It was better than reflecting on the events that had happened. The atmosphere still reeked of the fear that they had experienced, but inside the walls it also was much less tense. As the boys all got into their beds they all muttered a 'goodnight' to each other, however Eren quickly snuck in 'not you Kirstein' to have a quick reply of 'yeah have nightmares mated'. It was almost as though the events truly didn't happen, and it calmed Jean's nerves tremendously. It was as if no matter the situation, the group had each other to pull through. Like a strange family.


End file.
